Bus stand



T. R. WYMAN Oct. 24, 1950A BUS STAND Filed Jan. 28, 1947 Wwfww,

Atorneys ateneci ct. 24, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE BUS STAN' Truett R.- Wyman, Lake liarlsyaf Application January 28, 1947, Serial No. 724,876

2 ClaiInS. (Cl. 312-1727) The present invention relates to a serving table, or bus stand, which may be usefully employed in restaurants or the like, to facilitate the serving of patrons, and the convenient and rapid removal of used dishes from the dining room.

A prncipal object of the invention is to provide such a table or stand, which embodies in a single unitary structure, all of the advantages in serving and in the removal of dishes, which now require the use of several articles of furniture for these purposes.

A lfurther object of the invention is to provide such a table or stand, which has a flat top surface open at one side thereof, and of such dimension as to permit the waiter to Vplace a tray on said top surface, while supporting the tray with his hand and arm positioned beneath the same, the construction being such that the arm of the waiter can be accommodated within the open top of the stand when he places the tray thereon, the open side permitting him to conveniently withdraw his arm laterally from the open side of the stand after the tray has'been positioned on the fiat top thereof. In connection with this purpose of the invention, the table disclosed herein is 'provided with a three-sided ledge of proper width and dimensions to support trays in the manner referred to, which are of the conventional size now used in restaurants.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a table or bus stand, as described, which has a plurality of open and separate compartments formed by shelves, which will permit the preparation of, and separate stacking of such articles of service as silverware, dishes and glasses, and which will permit the removal of one tray of used dishes from a shelf adjacent the top' of the stand, and the replacement in that shel'f of a separate similar tray in order that the table will be in condition to receive soiled dishes, and the like, at all times.

A further object of the invention is to provide a table or bus stand, which is so arranged as to accommodate all of the articles required by a single waiter, including condiments and the like, in order that the waiter may be responsible for all of the individual articles he uses in serving theV customers which are assigned to him.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bus stand constructed in such manner as to reduce the noise resulting from the contact of dishes and silverware when same are being remo-ved from or placed in the trays positioned in the'various 'compartments of the stand.

Various other objects and advantages of the inventi'onl will b'e app'arent as the description herein progresses.

In' the dra-Wings, which illustrate a simple stand embodying the important features of the invention, which stand may be made tovary in ornamental appearance as desired: VFfigure 1- isf a 'perspective view of? the serving table or busstand, showing its interior parts, as would be apparent to the eye when viewed from the openV side thereof.

Figure 2 is across secton'al view, illustrati-ng a' possible construction ofany of the various Vwalls off? the table; and illustrating the soundproof construction which may be employed, the v-iew'bei-ngtaken for instance along the line 2-'2 of Figure 1.

It' will be understood that the bus stand herein described may' be made in any dimensions, but prefera'bly isof'suc'h size as'to' be capable of use by a waiter while standing up. The height of the bus' stand might Vary from thirty-six inches to forty-eight inches, its" width might vary from eighteen inches to'thirty inches, and' its depth r might va-ry from fourteen inches to twenty-two inches.

The table preferably comprises rectang-ular sid`e=wa1lsi 1'0, disposedin spaced Vertical planes, and'- a similar -but`l wide'r rear wall |2, and there are a number of spaced shelves [4, 16-, 1-8 and 20 secured Vbetween the side walls lil and attache'd to saidV walls, an'd if'necess`ary to the rear walls, but by suitable right angular supporting members 221 which may be' nienieL of light aluminum, or any other suitable Ina-terial. The' shelves are Vertically spaced from one another a sufiicient distance to receive' th'ereon' varioustype of trays now inuse, l'eaving anadlequate space above each tray for the'waiter to view the contents of the latter, and' to enablehim toplace articles of service into-the trays, or to--removethese articles from the'trays'; 'i

Thetopof the table comprses a fiat rear member 24" and flat side members 26, which are' several inches in width; thefront side of the table being open atits top`- in order that a tra-y may bejplaced onV the top ledge while supported by the' hand and arm of the waiter beneath the tray; so that-he may remove his arm forwardly from theA table after' the' tray is supported thereon, or may insert his arminto the table benea-th thetr-ay, to lift the' same from the top supporting ledge;

The' table als' described; can b'e made of wood', plastic'or metal. If made; of Wood, the walls of aaaaese the various compartments formed, can be treated for acoustical purposes by a number of properly placed holes in the interior walls of the compartments to absorb sound. If made of metal, such as aluminum, or some plastic, the walls can be formed of spaced plates 30 and 32, as shown in Figure 2, the space between the walls being filled by any suitable sound absorbing, or nonresonant material 34, such as asbestos, rock W001, cork, or other insulating material which will serve to reduce sound.

It will be understood that the unit as described will be quite light in weight, and may be moved about as desired. It would be contemplated that the portability of the device could be increased, by mounting the same on Wheels or casters, as will be apparent. E

Removably positioned on the top shelf |4 is a silverware tray T1, made of some light metal,

such as aluminum, and comprising bottom, side and rear walls, and transverse vpartitions 36 rounded at their forward ends as at 38, definng six compartments for the stacking of various types of silverware. ,On the second shelf IB, a similar removable tray T2 is provided, this tray being similarly open at its top, but having walls on all four sides thereof, andlhaving transverse partition plate 40 near one end thereof, in order to divide the tray into a used-dish compartment 42 and a used-silverware compartment 44.

On the third shelf |8, there may be positioned an open Wire basket B of a type well known in the art, which is adapted to receive glassware in stacked condition. It will be understood that the basket B may be of such dimensions as to be accommodated in automatic washing machines of well known type, so that the basket with its glassware may be inserted into and removed from such a machine, as arunit, so that the basket may be immediately returned to its shelf after the glassware has been washed.

On the bottom shelf 20, a tray T2, identical with that described in connection with shelf |6 may be placed. It willbe understood that when such a tray on the shelf IB has been filled With used Ware, it may be removed and positioned on the lower shelf 20, the unfilled tray on this shelf then being elevated to shelf IS for continued use. A secondary attendant may then remove the filled tray from the lower shelf 20 and take it to the washing room, this tray when cleaned being then available for replacement on the shelf 20 where it will constitute a reserve receptacle immediately, available for use upon the filling of the similar tray on the upper shelf IS.

It will be noted that the Vertical space between shelves |8 and 20 is substantially less than the corresponding space between the other shelves, it being only necessary that this space should be substantially greater than the height of the tray T2, as access to such a tray on the lower shelf 20 may not usually be required to drop Ware into the tray, or to remove it therefrom.

Referring to the tray T1, and particularly to .the element shown by the cut-out portion of the side wall |0, it will be noted that the width of this tray is substantially less than the other trays, in order to provide a storage space on the upper shelf 14 behind the rear wall of the tray T1. With this arrangement, various kinds of condiments C may be arranged for convenient availability in the upper part of the table, so that a waiter may serve his customers with such condiments, and be individually responsible for same. In order to properly limit the rearward movement of the tray T1 in its compartment, any suitable form of stop S may be attached at proper postions at opposite ends of the upper compartment, either to the shelf |4 or to the end walls 10. In the specific embodiment illustrated, I have shown this stop as comprising a vertically arranged metal angle such as of aluminum.

While the dimensions of the table disclosed herein should be such as to accommodate trays of conventional size, it will be apparent that the open top arrangement, with its ledge, will be suitable for supporting serving trays of various sizes, and such trays can be conveniently handled without the danger of upsetting the tray or causing the dishes to slide thereon, as would be probable if the table was of such design as to require the Waiter to slide the trays laterally onto the top surface thereof.

With regard to the silverware tray T1, the various compartments provide for separate storage of knives, forks, spoons, soup spoons, cocktail forks, and steak knives, The tray is removable, enabling a waiter to take it to the supply of silverware in the kitchen and fill the same. Thus, each waiter is responsible for his own silverware and an adequate supply in the dining room at all times is assured.

The division of the tray T2, as described, eliminates the temptation to throw silverware in on the dishware, with consequent breakage of the latter.

I claim:

1. A 'bus stand of height for use by waiters having closed end and rear walls and having an open top and front, each of said walls having at its upper end a relatively narrow, inwardly extending ledge formed to provide a fiat serving tray support which encircles all sides of said stand except the front, a top horizontal shelf extending between said walls and in contact with said rear wall, said shelf being spaced a sufficient distance beneath said support to receive a storage tray thereon while leaving sufficient space between the top of the tray and the fiat plane of said ledge to accommodate the hand and forearm of a waiter when placing a serving tray on, or removing it from, said stand, and a plurality of additional horizontal shelves supported between said walls for receiving additional storage trays, all of said shelves providing compartments fully open in front for convenient reception and removal of the storage trays.

2. A bus stand of height for use by waiters having closed end and rear walls and having an open top and front, each of said walls having at its upper end a relatively narrow, inwardly extending ledge formed to provide a fiat serving tray support which encircles all sides of said stand except the front, a top horizontal shelf extending between said walls and in contact with said rear wall, said shelf being spaced a sufficient distance beneath said support to receive a storage tray thereon while leaving sufficient space 'between the top of the tray and the flat plane of said ledge to accommodate the hand and forearm of a waiter when placing a serving tray on, or removing it from, said stand, and a plurality of additional horizontal shelves supported between said walls for receiving additional storage trays, at least one of the said additional shelves being spaced from the shelf above a distance suflcient to permit inserting used articles of tableware into a storage tray supported there- 5 on, a11 of said shelves providing compartments fully open n front for convenieni'l reception and removal of the storage trays.

TRUETTE R. WYMAN,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Warner Feb. 15, 1916' Blood June 30, 1925 Campbell May 14, 1929 McNeely May 18, 1939 Boldt Dec. 24, 1946 

